Theory of Love
by six-sides-of-the-dice
Summary: Why does he waste energy on answering her questions? Oreki thinks he might have the answer.


Hey all! I've recently began and finished the anime Hyouka, and I loved it! I was, however, extremely disappointed the somewhat lack of romance between Houtarou Oreki and Eru Chitanda. :( But in the end, it's still a great anime...which is why I took some time to write this little one-shot on them. Enjoy!

* * *

It was another normal day for the Classics Club. Oreki was slouched in his chair across the desk from Chitanda, his book forgotten on the desk as he gazed out the window at the mild September weather. Their second year of high school had just begun, and already he missed the nice long summer days where he'd been able to do absolutely nothing. Conserving energy was what he was known for, and conserve energy he did. There'd been the more than occasional time where Chitanda had swung by to pick him up for one of her get-togethers, but truthfully he hadn't minded those terribly. And, of course, whenever she'd gotten him out of the house, the day had wound up with a mystery of some sorts; from why the lifeguard at the pool had a bad sunburn, to why the pet store sold anything but cats. Whatever it was, Chitanda was curious. And when Eru Chitanda was curious, Oreki was there to quench her curiosity with his "lucky" answers (He got it at the beach the previous day; the store owner had an allergy to cats).

Now that they were back in school, the two of them sat in the Classic Club's new classroom, waiting for Satoshi Fukube and Mayaka Ibura to find their new meeting place. Oreki sighed, looking out at the blue skies. Now he was busy thinking about Chitanda when she got curious. Her bright, cheery looking purple eyes would sparkle and she would lean in towards him as she proclaimed in determination;

"I'm curious."

Turning around in his chair, Oreki looked over at the girl who'd just spoken the very words he was thinking of. "Hm?"

Chitanda stood up from her seat, pushing her chair back in the process, and firmly planted her hands on the desk. "I'm curious as to what you're thinking of!"

Oreki's half-lidded eyes blinked lazily up at her. "Why?"

"Because," Chitanda replied leaning in even closer. "I'm curious on how your brain works! How do you manage to solve every mystery I throw at you? How do you come up with theories to all of my questions?"

Oreki stared at her, predicting how this very familiar procedure would wind up. Chitanda continued with her rapid-fire questions.

"Isn't it a waste of energy?"

He raised an eyebrow at that. Chitanda looked at him before looking away as she asked the next question.

"Why do you bother to help me all the time?"

At this point, the two were practically just mere centimeters apart. Sparkling, inquisitive violet eyes peered into nervous, yet focused, green ones. A blush crept onto Oreki's face as he struggled against the temptation from being so close to her face. Yet, something had kept him from flinching away this time, instead of what he normally did during these kinds of predicaments.

As time seemed to stretch out into much longer than mere seconds, Oreki began to put his mind into use to try and figure out a theory for Chitanda. Why_ did_ he always succumb to this girl? Why waste his precious energy to help give her what she wanted? To make her happy? Why would he go to such lengths to make this girl satisfied? Did the sight of her satisfied, happy face make Oreki happy as well in some sense? Did Chitanda Eru make him, Oreki Houtarou happy?

Oreki blinked, his jumbled thoughts snapping away in a flash, leaving behind the answer. Ah, yes. That's right.

He had solved this mystery.

A breath of warm air grazed upon his lips, bringing him back to staring into Chitanda Eru's sparkling gaze. Her eyes held her usual curiosity, and determination. But as Oreki stared, he thought that maybe this time there was a little something else dancing about in her gaze. In fact, he was quite sure of it.

"Well?" she breathed, looking into eyes, clearly without any intention of moving away unless she got an answer. And this time, Oreki didn't hesitate before giving an answer.

"I have a theory."

And with that, he leaned forward to close the gaps between their lips. Closing his eyes, he felt Chitanda begin to kiss back. He'd never felt such bliss before, heck, this might even be better than conserving energy. Leaning deeper into the kiss, he felt for the first time that he was glad that Chitanda had been curious today. And as for Chitanda, she'd certainly figured out what his theory was.

_I love you._

* * *

In case that was a fuzzy ending...his theory as to why he always was there for Chitanda was because he loved her.

I've never written anything for romance really before this, but this turned out decently in my opinion. Didn't really delve much into the kissing part because I felt too awkward writing it. XD But I guess I'll get over the awkwardness with enough practice.

Oh, and here's a little post-ending for you guys. Hope you liked the story!

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Post Ending:

Two shadowed figures peered out from behind the sliding door to the classroom, witnessing Chitanda and Oreki kissing. The taller figure slowly and carefully closed the sliding door to give the two some privacy. Walking away from the door, he grabbed the more slender figure's hand and lead them to the stairs.

"It's about time those two got together," Satoshi Fukube grinned.

Mayaka Ibura snorted, shaking her head. "I still think Chii-chan's too good for that lazy sloth of a person."

Satoshi looked at her from the corner of his eye before closing both eyes and shaking his head good-naturedly. "You're so cold sometimes Ibara, but you know that Houtarou must be a friend to you at heart."

Mayaka pouted, before gripping her hand on Satoshi's hand clasped around hers tighter. "Shut up, Fuku-chan.."

Satoshi looked down at their clasped hands and smiled.

"Just so long as you don't start to think of Houtarou as more than me," he said half-jokingly, as Oreki had proved to be better than him many occasions before.

Mayaka looked up at his facial expression before smiling up at him.

"Don't worry Fuku-chan..." She blushed before looking at the ground. "...you'll always be first place to me."

"Good to know," Satoshi said, smilied genuinely down at his girlfriend. "Now, let's go get something to eat! I heard a new restaurant opened up downtown just this week!" Returning to his normal self, he opened the doors that led out of the school. Mayaka sighed, the moment forgotton, then smirked up at him.

"Alright, but you're paying."

"What?!"

* * *

There's some of Satoshi and Mayaka for you, since they weren't in the main plot.

Until next time!


End file.
